In her analysis of the writings of Kamikaze pilots’ writings, Ohnuki-Tierney (2002: 169) also observes the signiWcance of this factor. While the Kamikaze pilots have often been seen as fanatically devoted to their cause, this is not unambiguously supported by the available evidence. Those who psyched themselves up repeating the oYcial propaganda on the radio were labelled by their comrades as kichigai (‘nutters’). In fact, the 26 Peter Hill Kamikaze pilots held very diverse views. Among those pilots whose views have been made known in the available literature, we can see atheists, admirers of Marx and Lenin, liberals, Christians, and even an old boy from an English public school.

They were usually informed that they would get their chance but not yet. Training In the early plane-crash attacks, the pilots were already trained and needed no further training; nor had they the time. Inoguchi, who was responsible for training Kamikaze pilots in Formosa at the end of 1944, recalls that specialized Kamikaze training lasted for a week. Because the airWelds from which Kamikaze attacks were launched were subject to frequent attack, it was very important to minimize the time between taking the planes out of hiding and getting them in the air.

And they’d wave them like Xags as the planes Xew over. (Interview, 16 January 2002) Kamikaze, 1943–5 31 Because their families would not have a body to cremate in a funeral service, pilots would cut their hair and Wnger nails, which would be sent home. Occasionally the ashes of a pilot who had died in training would be taken on a mission by one of his comrades so that he too could participate. The Thunder Gods Corps pilots burned their old uniforms and changed into new ones, as did kaiten pilots.